Chapter 23
The island was isolated, miles away from any other landmass. Kat pursed her lips as she noticed the gray storm clouds in the distance.Let’s hope the regent’s assignment is a quick one. She wanted to be out of the area before the storm hit.
Setting down the ship on the flattest surface she could find, she powered it down and turned to her companion. Jeffrey nodded at her, rising to his feet and leading the way to the ship’s hatch.
He stepped out first, then turned around to extend a hand to her. Although the drop was a small one, she was touched by the offer of support. For so long she’d been pushing herself, proving that she could achieve her goals on her own. Now she realized that she missed having someone to lean on.
She took his hand, and it was warm in her own. Stepping down from the ship, she surveyed the landscape around them.
Thousands of birds swooped around them, careening in slow wheels overhead. There were many more thousands on the rocks around them, squawking and flapping to one another. The sound was nearly overwhelming, as was the smell of so many avian neighbors.
“What could the regent possibly want with this place?” Jeffrey asked, shading his eyes to stare into the distance.
“I’m not sure,” she murmured, watching as a peskel came in for a landing nearby. It lumbered over to an overhang, and Kat noticed that there was a nest inside with an occupant. The peskel cozied up to its companion, rubbing its head along the other bird’s feathers.
“These birds are called storm peskels,” she said. They weren’t large, maybe a foot in length, their white faces marked with blue around the eyes. Blue also tinged the feathers along the head and back, a more vibrant blue showing at the wingtips.
Jeffrey crouched, moving forward slowly toward one of the nests perched atop an outcropping. “Such an interesting call,” he said, and Kat made herself listen. It was interesting, something between a coo and a trill, with a lilting up note on the end that was both pleasant and soothing.
She watched as Jeffrey got as close as he could to the nest. “There’s an egg in there,” he said softly.
Kat crouched beside him and peered into the nest. There was an egg, small, dark and speckled with turquoise flecks.
A peskel swooped around them, circling their heads twice before landing on Jeffrey’s shoulder.
The lieutenant gave a small laugh, his smile open and unguarded. Kat’s heart contracted in her chest. He was so beautiful in that moment. His tanned skin looked at home under the Zantharian sky, his blue eyes a perfect match for the seas that swirled around them.
Kat had to look away as tears welled in her eyes. She shaded her eyes and looked at the storm clouds which had crept closer.
Why would Rasveen send us here? What does he want us to discover?He must have known there was a good chance we’d be caught in a storm. They’re nearly constant here.
She couldn’t understand what was so important that they come here, now, to an island entirely populated by seabirds.
Jeffrey’s frantic whisper brought her attention back to him. “Kat, look!” He’d gone to his knees, his avian visitor stepping back and forth across his broad shoulders.
She crept closer, not wanting to disturb the birds around them, and knelt beside him. Jeffrey was watching the nest, his eyes trained on the egg, and in a moment she discovered why.
A tiny hole was being tapped out of the egg, from the inside. A black beak appeared, working hard to break through the shell. The mother sat nearby, not moving, watching the egg as her offspring burst through it.
At last a fluffy black creature tumbled out of the egg. The peskel on Jeffrey’s shoulder jumped down, waddling over to the nest. It began gently rubbing its beak against the infant bird. The mother joined in, helping to clean the remaining bits of shell off its young.
She hardly noticed when Jeffrey put his arm around her, but she was instantly appreciative of the contact. Resting her head on his shoulder, she started to speak.
“Peskels mate for life,” she said. “They come back to this same island, the island where they were born, to build their nests and lay their egg.”
A single egg, she remembered.One child for each couple.
A sudden realization crashed over her like the waves around them. She rose, then held out her hands to pull him to his feet.
“What is it?” he asked, catching sight of her expression.
“I know why we’re here.”
He looked at her, waiting for her to speak, but she wasn’t sure she could force out the words. She took a deep breath, staring into his eyes, and suddenly something inside her broke open. Like the chick from the shell, she emerged, and the words tumbled out in a torrent.
“I love you,” she said, grabbing his face and pulling it close to hers. “I know I gave you every impression otherwise, but I love you so much it hurts.”
His eyes widened in shock. He grabbed her, pulling her body into his.
